Pacific Grove man arrested after crash kills two women

A luxury home builder from Pacific Grove was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and manslaughter after a traffic collision Sunday in Pebble Beach killed two women in the other car.

The victims, whose names were not released by late Monday, were Pebble Beach residents, ages 72 and 65, the California Highway Patrol said.

The women were in a 2005 Ford that collided head-on with a 2009 Cadillac driven by Stuart Elder, 30, of Pacific Grove, the CHP said.

The Cadillac was headed south on Sloat Road just north of Bird Rock Road about 7:30 p.m. when it crossed over into the opposing lane and into the path of the Ford, the CHP said.

The victims in the Ford were dead at the scene, officers said.

Elder was taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula with minor injuries, while his 20-year female passenger was airlifted to Stanford Medical Center with moderate injuries, the CHP said.

Elder was booked into Monterey County Jail early Monday on charges of felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter.

He was released from custody about noon after posting $430,000 in bail, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said.

A computer index of Monterey County court records show Elder received 13 traffic citations between 2003 and 2012. Records from a single criminal case dating to November 2000 were no longer available after December 2007, the index said.

If the district attorney decides to charge Elder with gross vehicular manslaughter, he could face 10 years in state prison for each count. If he has any previous drunken driving convictions, he could face 15 years to life.

State contractor records list Elder as the sole proprietor of Pacific Grove-based ECI Building Inc., which according to the company website has a branch in Dallas and builds and remodels luxury custom homes and commercial buildings.

Among the high-end jobs shown on the site is a 13,000-square-foot house in the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel Valley, work on actress Doris Day's residence and a Trader Joe's store.

Elder's LinkedIn web page states he was the owner of Elder Construction from 2006 to 2011, and that he then decided to "re-create" the business as ECI Building.

State records showed Elder's contractor's license, bonding, and workers' compensation insurance were up to date Monday.

CHP officials did not say why they suspected Elder had been drinking, or how much alcohol might have been in his system.

Messages touting two after-parties following the Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival, including photos of the crowds in attendance, were posted from ECI Building's Twitter account several days before the collision.